Riches to Rags

Below is the poem entitled Riches to Rags which was written by poet
Christine
Phillips. Please feel free to comment on this poem. However, please remember, PoetrySoup is a place of encouragement and growth.

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Sorry I have more to say. When people come here to make a life many of them prosper because they are willing to take on the work that many people feel is beneath them. From this work they progress and build lives. Opportunities are realized through hard work and perserverance. The desire to want more for there family is a powerful motivator. I do understand there is a dark side as well.

I strongly believe in earning my bread the honest way. I believe in hard work, I am not afraid of working; I have been working since I was 18 years, and I always do whatever I can find to do. But the reality still exist that life in America is currently for some people. Greed and materialism, hatred and envy have taken over the heart of many people. Unless individual return to the real essence of that “Dream” the road ahead will continue to be rocky because those that who been wearing “Rags” for a long time will soon be wear “Fur coats”.

Very powerful piece. My wife came to Canada with her family from Hong Kong as a child. Her parents worked 7 days a week bought and paid for a home and put 4 kids through University. All of them have made a good life here and are contributing to society in meaningful ways. So I would say the dream still lives and Canada plus the USA are the best places to realize these dreams.

Thank you for your valuable comments. Yes, in the past the “Dream” was alive, there was honesty, and love and brotherhood among the people, besides many jobs were available. What has happen to this dream now? Many people, who have made it in the past, have lost most of their possessions today because there are no jobs available to pay their debts. Jobs that are available are hard to come by because “Native Americans” are now doing the jobs that they have once rejected. Furthermore, many people use to work illegally in the USA, and now all of those avenues have been closed.
The Chinese are exceptional people (they work in groups) and there is hardly a Chinese person that suffers in a foreign country. All of them will rent one room, and live in the same place and eat the same food until each can make it on his or her own. That is how they live anywhere they go, which is why they are so successful. Then one day when they make enough money the business is closed and they disappear.